The Chess Player

• Marc Clotet
• Melina Matthews
• Alejo Sauras

Loosely inspired by the real story of the Russian Alexander Alekhine, it tells the tale of the Spanish Chess Champion of 1934 who emigrates to Paris with his girlfriend, a French journalist, to escape from the Civil War. Accused of espionage by the Nazis, he is sent to prison, where he manages to overcome challenges through his skills in chess and the passion for the game shared by the German officer in charge there. With a superb reconstruction of the time period in question, according to its director, Luis Oliveros, «it is not a war film or a chess film; it is a story about ordinary people trying to survive and how war transforms us.»

1934. After Diego Padilla wins the Spanish Chess Championship he meets and a beautiful French journalist called Marianne and they soon marry and have a daughter. But when the Spanish Civil War breaks out, they have to move to France in order to keep alive. However when the Nazis occupy Paris Diego is once again facing danger and is finally sent to jail after falsely being accused of spying. In these circumstances Chess will be his only option of survival.